One of the tasks of the Ministry of Information is to study the attitude of the public to current events and to
interpret this public mind
to the Government. No publicity can be effective unless it takes into account the basic conditions under which it must work. It has long been recognised that a knowledge of public opinion is essential to a democracy, a necessity which in war-time becomes doubly apparent. At the present time many forms of political and social expression are curtailed or modified and there is therefore a pressing need for adequate and impartial machinery for testing and measuring public reaction. No instability of policy is implied in continuous and close attention to the needs and wishes of the community. Reliance on guesswork and partial surveys, or on information lodged by interested bodies can be misleading and dangerous. Thoroughgoing public opinion studies are therefore vital.
Purposes
.
The
purposes
for which a Home Intelligence service is required are these:-
(1) To provide a directive for Home Publicity. A continuous flow of reliable information is required on what the public is thinking in order that publicity measures may be formulated and their effectiveness tested.
(2) To provide an assessment of home morale. For this purpose it is necessary to study immediate reactions to specific events as well as to create a barometer for the measurement of opinion, on questions likely to be continuously important, e.g. pacifism.
The
means
by which such a service can be
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- 2 -established are these:-
(1) An
Information Bureau
consisting of newspaper summarising and cutting, continuous reading of periodicals and journals, reports of broadcasting, filing and analysing of documents relating to public events.
(2) A
service of reports
from a wide variety of sources (see appendix of sources attached) as well as the initiation of
special independent investigations
promoted by headquarters.
With the establishment of this machinery a continuous assessment of public opinion would become a routine matter.
Objectives not secret
The
purposes
of an intelligence system should be widely known and receive the approbation of all the political parties: it is not, however, necessary to make known the
methods
by which the system is made to work. It would be a grave mistake to injure the work of Home Intelligence with a suggestion that is activities must be secret.
Difficulties
Co-operation
The creation of a
comprehensive
intelligence service is not easy. The sources of information already available to use are inadequate; attitude testing methods are not yet agreed upon among authorities; Great Britain is backward in the field of social survey; there is no proper understanding of the fundamental relationship between
saying
,
doing
and
thinking
. Nevertheless the fullest co-operation has been promised both by Government departments and by outside bodies. The Ministry of Home Security in particular wish to receive a continuous supply of information on all matters affecting morale and it is
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- 3 -understood that the Minister of Home Security would welcome the creation of an organisation for this purpose by the Ministry of Information. M.I.7 offer full co-operation. Postal Censorship can supply valuable additional evidence. The assistance of the B.B.C. Listener Research service can be invoked. Our own Regional Scheme will provide information on a local basis. In addition there are the sources of information set out below. There is immediate need for the correlation of these resources.
Need for Independent Investigations
There remains, however, the necessity for
independent investigations
. These are essential for making rapid “pilot” tests and for covering special areas and specific problems. It is not suggested that by the use of attitude-testing machinery, such as the
British Institute of Public Opinion
,
Mass Observation
, and the
Market Research
bodies (e.g. London Press Exchange), public opinion can be estimated with scientific precision, nor that by these methods the direction of public thought can be accurately predicted. The use of these methods, however, is considered indispensable to a proper assessment of evidence provided from other sources. It is of interest to record that the B.B.C. now makes use of B.I.P.O. for special investigations and in all large organisations market research is considered a prerequisite for advertising.
Alternative Machinery
Without the use of these agencies it will become necessary in time for Home Intelligence to set up attitude testing machinery of its own. A development of this kind would, it is true, invest us with responsibility for the methods employed and would keep control at headquarters. Nevertheless such machinery would be fairly
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- 4 -expensive to maintain, it would take time to be put into useful operation, and it would be clear that investigators were at work with the name and authority of the Ministry.
Additional evidence from academic bodies
An alternative approach suggested by Professor Ford and already used in America, is the selection of certain “type areas“ for intensive study.
This suggestion is linked to the desirability of securing the
co-operation of outside bodies
, University Departments, Social Surveys and so forth, There is no doubt that we could stimulate the setting up of special investigations likely to produce material of interest to Home Intelligence. This could be done either by co-operation with work already in progress or in contemplation, or by the initiation of fresh schemes of enquiry. Academic bodies aware of our needs should be prepared to help us. It might be necessary for some financial assistance to be arranged. Funds, whether from the Treasury or from Trusts would be well spent in promoting studies fundamental in peace or war. Investigations of this kind are already contemplated, for example, by the Department of Economics at the University of Wales, Cardiff on “The Effect of the War on South Wales Industries“, and on “Opinion-forming“ by the Department of Social Science in the University of Liverpool.
Staffing
The
personnel
required for establishing such a service would depend on decisions taken about the use of attitude testing machinery. If it were decided that outside agencies should be used for special investigations then the headquarters personnel would be relatively small, It would be necessary, however, to employ a specialist for
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- 5 -the control and correlation of these investigations. Well-qualified and experienced workers in this field are rare and it would be advisable soon to make plans for securing an expert.
The setting up of machinery of our own would mean the attachment to each of our Regional offices of special investigators charged with the supervision of field work as well as a skeleton statistical staff at headquarters.
The Ministry already possesses an Information Section. It is considered appropriate to call for documentary research from this Section and it should therefore be noted that it may become necessary to augment its staff.
There is no Officer specially charged with London Region. This defect in organisation should be remedied as soon as possible.
Reports
Intelligence should provide the following service of reports:
1. To the
Director General
for the Minister's use: a routine monthly report; ad hoc reports on the results of special investigations or matters of particular urgency.
2. To the
Director of Home Publicity
(for Branch I): ad hoc reports on the need for special publicity and on the results of measures adopted.
3. To the
Ministry of Home Security
: the routine monthly report (1) together with interim fortnightly reports if necessary.
